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Blissfully Oblivious: Songs Many Misunderstand

BigTurk said:
Interesting you say that.

I have always interpreted Chuck Berry's Memphis Tennessee as a story of a young boy who's family moved to Memphis and he longed to see his childhood friend Marie. My wife absolutely disagrees and thinks it is a song about a broken marriage and a father hoping to hear from his daughter. I like my version better.

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Well, Sir, AI says that Chuck Berry wrote it about a man wanting to hear from his daughter Marie, so Mrs. Big Turk wins that one on technical points.

However, I am in agreement with the statement that art is what the viewer/listener brings to it and therefore, you are not wrong.

Win win at your house. Atta Turk...

:cool:
 
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Nothingman said:
Hook by Blues Traveler. I had no idea what it was about for years but I loved it. So he was right. The words don’t matter. The hook brings you back.


There is something amiss
I am being insincere
In fact, I don't mean any of this
Still my confession draws you near

To confuse the issue I refer
To familiar heroes from long ago
No matter how much Peter loved her
What made the Pan refuse to grow

Was that hook brings you back
I ain't tellin' you no lie
The hook brings you back
On that you can rely
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This is really the ultimate example for me - and the fact that he wrote those words to a hook that was good enough to prove them correct is astounding.
 
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yeah......... this is embarrassing to admit.......for me it's DNCE's Cake by the Ocean. Catchy little tune.....then my kids said "Dad you do know what this song is about right?" It was absolutely right there in front of me but yet I just simply couldn't see it.....and now I'll never not see it because it is so incredibly obvious if you just listen to the song.
 
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BigTurk said:
Interesting you say that.

I have always interpreted Chuck Berry's Memphis Tennessee as a story of a young boy who's family moved to Memphis and he longed to see his childhood friend Marie. My wife absolutely disagrees and thinks it is a song about a broken marriage and a father hoping to hear from his daughter. I like my version better.

Click to expand...


A Chuck tune a lot of people get wrong is Sweet Little Rock-and-Roller.

Because of his legal troubles many want to interpret “At nine years old and sweet as she can be” as a literal allusion to pedophilia.

That is, of course, preposterous. Chuck is way too good of a writer for that.

He is actually using pedophilia as a metaphor for ephebophila.
 
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AuH2O said:
I always find the playing of Hallelujah at weddings or other things at churches pretty odd.

99 Luftballoons was out when I was really little but summed up the early 80s pretty well. Life dressed up with gaudy, poppy crap while the nuclear sword of Damocles over our heads.
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Yeah, Hallelujah is an all time great song that they play at Christmas and other times like you said when that's not what it's about.
 
AuH2O said:
I always find the playing of Hallelujah at weddings or other things at churches pretty odd.

99 Luftballoons was out when I was really little but summed up the early 80s pretty well. Life dressed up with gaudy, poppy crap while the nuclear sword of Damocles over our heads.
Click to expand...

Great thing about that song is there are about 100 different versions of it. The OG song is not what people think but I have heard several rewritten version where they change the words and it makes perfect sense. So basically if they are playing it, they better listen to it other than the word Hallelujah to make sure which version they are playing
 
Nothingman said:
Hook by Blues Traveler. I had no idea what it was about for years but I loved it. So he was right. The words don’t matter. The hook brings you back.


There is something amiss
I am being insincere
In fact, I don't mean any of this
Still my confession draws you near

To confuse the issue I refer
To familiar heroes from long ago
No matter how much Peter loved her
What made the Pan refuse to grow

Was that hook brings you back
I ain't tellin' you no lie
The hook brings you back
On that you can rely
Click to expand...

John Popper is a genius.
 
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Sitting around at a graduation after party this weekend and 'Fancy' by Reba McIntire came on. My mom commented on what a good song it was.

Mom, you realize it's a song about a mother prostituting her own daughter out to old sugar daddies right?

...oh.
 
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My favorite memory of a misunderstood song is Janet Jackson's "All For You". I was subbing in a high school Spanish class. I played the radio for the kids and that song came on. A number of the girls in the class were singing along (cuz it's a BOP!) and I asked them to actually listen to the lyrics.....

"All the girls at the party
look at that body
shaking that thing like you never did see
Got a nice package alright
Guess I'm gonna have to ride it tonight."

A collective "EWWW" rang out. :oops::):D
 
All these songs prove is if it's catchy w will like it and sing along to it. The real lyrics don't matter to most.
Feel like a woman by Shania Twain catchy as hell to sing along to.
It's a car sing along if I'm alone or with other sing along people.
 
12191987 said:
A Chuck tune a lot of people get wrong is Sweet Little Rock-and-Roller.

Because of his legal troubles many want to interpret “At nine years old and sweet as she can be” as a literal allusion to pedophilia.

That is, of course, preposterous. Chuck is way too good of a writer for that.

He is actually using pedophilia as a metaphor for ephebophila.
Click to expand...
Then we learn C.B. actually had a thing for matronly white women. In the bathroom.
 
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